10 Things You Need to Know for the Waste & Recycling Industry Today (September 2, 2014)

Madison ends food waste recycling program, plans to postpone construction of biogester “Madison will be discontinuing its household organics collection pilot program in September, with plans to roll out a food waste recycling program to the entire city delayed for at least one, but possibly as many as five years. Since June of 2011, 500 households and six businesses in the pilot areas voluntarily recycled food waste like fruit, vegetables, fish and bones. House plants, yard waste and pet waste were also allowed in a bin for compost, separate from the city-issued green recycling bins.” (The Cap Times)

Still Unclear How Mortar Shell Ended Up at Recycling Plant “Investigators are still trying to determine how a live mortar shell ended up at a recycling plant in southwestern Illinois where it exploded and killed two people this week. Totall Metal Recycling in Granite City receives some material from the U.S. military, including spent shell casings. But company spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch tells the Belleville News-Democrat that under that contract, shipments are not supposed to include live ammunition.” (The Associated Press)

Why It Makes Sense To Put Solar Farms On Old Landfill Sites “Old landfills are often ideal sites for solar farms because the land has a limited number of alternative uses. It's not possible to sink heavy foundations (which rules out large buildings) and environmental concerns weigh against other possibilities. Solar panels deliver valuable energy that the owner and developer can share, with states often chipping in with incentives or favorable policy. A few years ago, many landfills were seeing second lives as golf courses. ‘There are so many golf courses that have sprung up over the last 20 years, there isn't a need for any more,’ says Todd Hranicka, who directs PSE&G's solar landfill program in New Jersey. ‘That was the solution du jour for a lot of years. But now there's not much you can do with a landfill--except for solar, of course, which is very productive.’” (Fast Company)

Mount Everest mountaineers told to recycle waste “Hundreds of mountaineers from all over the world attempt to climb Mount Everest and other Himalayan peaks in Nepal. But activists say over the decades tonnes of disposed tents, spent oxygen cylinders and discarded food containers and bottles have been left behind by various teams in the pristine snow clad mountains.” (BBC)

Waste to Energy: Focus on Sustainability Drives Water Treatment Innovations in Food and Beverage Industry “Water availability, tighter environmental regulations and growing interest in sustainability are pushing advancements and greater implementation of water treatment innovations in the food and beverage industry. As more food and beverage manufacturers look to adopt more environmentally responsible approaches and minimize operational risks -- including those related to waste disposal, wastewater discharge and rising energy costs -- advanced treatment processes including waste-to-energy projects are increasingly emerging as more viable alternatives.” (Industrial WaterWorld)

EPA discloses plans for $40M cleanup of former riverside dump “A $40 million action plan to cap and reclaim 74 acres of polluted land along the Blackstone River is suddenly gaining traction after years of behind-the-scenes investigation and reports. Unveiled in August by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to a community largely on vacation is a detail-filled survey of the affected land and what it will take to restore it for recreational use.” (The Valley Breeze)

East Side garbage foes hide behind loophole “Boutique law firm Marquart & Small doesn't seem like the sort of business that could give $690,000 to a lobbying group. It has three employees, is just a year old and operates out of a shared ‘work collective’ office in Manhattan's Flatiron district. Yet within six months of its founding, the fashion, arts and media specialist law firm had given that amount to a nonprofit called Pledge 2 Protect, which is fighting the building of a waste-transfer plant on the Upper East Side. Marquart & Small made its initial, $177,000 donation just two weeks after the limited liability partnership was formed in July 2013.” (Crain’s New York Business)

Duke kicks off zero-waste goal at football season opener “Duke University’s new zero-waste program scored points with football fans Saturday, hours before the Blue Devils stormed the field in Durham to face off against Elon University. The university’s Sustainability Office partnered with the Duke Athletics Department to set up special zero-waste recycling, composting and trash stations for Saturday’s home opener. Since some materials may not be appropriate for compost or recycling, most zero-waste programs set a goal of keeping 90 percent out of landfills.” (NewsObserver.com)

Variable-rate pricing for trash services headed to S.A. “The future of solid-waste management in San Antonio — paying based on how much rubbish you actually produce — is near. David McCary, director of San Antonio's Solid Waste Management Department, recommended Wednesday that the city should accelerate the schedule for variable-rate pricing. ‘If you create more waste, you should pay more,’ he said. ‘If you generate less waste, you should pay less.’ McCary's recommendation would start the new pricing program a year earlier than previously anticipated. He said the program would begin in October 2015 and take about 18 months to fully implement by April 2017.” (MySanAntonio.com)

Plan introduced to expand capacity at Campbell County regional landfill “Plans are underway to expand a regional landfill in the Lynchburg area. The Region 2000 Services Authority wants additional capacity at its landfill on Livestock Road, near Rustburg.  The facility, which takes in trash from Lynchburg and several surrounding counties, is expected to fill up in 2017. Officials want to add six acres to the existing site.  The added space would allow the landfill to stay open for an additional ten years.” (WDBJ7.com)